Memorial Day reflections

[contender]

I was asked to post this for Watertender

Reflections on Memorial Day


Flat black boxes hidden in a drawer,
Distant memories of a long ago war,
Earned with blood searing the soul,
Part of your heart is an empty hole.

Your mind goes back to those days,
Of friends dying in a distant place,
Young men's blood in the snow and sand,
The horror of war is never grand.

Stars of Bronze and Silver,
Their thought makes you quiver,
A Distinguished Service Cross,
Given for handing the Germans a loss.

On a day in May they decorate the graves,
Of the ones who were there and brave,
Fluttering American flags in the breeze,
The sound of Taps floating through the trees.

We all owe these men a debt of thanks,
They were the ones that faced the tanks,
From their actions America remains free
Their lives were given for you and me.

Let us never forget what they gave,
Those young men bold and brave,
Hold your heads high and speak their names,
Give their memory honor and fame.


"Watertender" for Memorial Day 2019

 

[rugerguy]

Amen,,, Thank you and May they forever rest in Peace.........

 

[bedfordboy]

In memory of the Bedford Boys of Co. A, 116 Infantry Regiment, 29th Division who suffered the highest losses per capita of any community in the United States on D-Day

The Bedford Boys D-Day sacrifice - Citizen-Soldier Magazine

The Bedford Boys sacrifice on D-Day will never be forgotten. How One National Guard Company Gave Its All on D-Day. Read more at Citizen Soldier

citizen-soldiermagazine.com

 

[blume357]

As for D-Day and specifically Omaha Beach.. I suggest reading Sam Fuller's Auto-biography.. . he only spends about 2 or 3 pages on it... but it starts out with, "We were the third wave and by then the German's had gotten the range."

Also in this regard... my father, Julius W. Blume... USMC... 1st Div. Recon Company... the last Marines to come out of the Chosin Reservoir .... Dec. 1950, According to Marine History the most decisive battle they ever fought... the numbers are staggering.... 1,000 marines killed another 4,000 wounded... later the VA finally declared any soldier who was there was disabled, temperatures dropped to well below 30 below. The really sad part of the story is the Chinese government has declared there soldiers that died in that battle as heroes .... last count... 52,000. Now of the few times my father talked about it later in his life he said... frozen dead Chinese soldiers make good sand bags....

here's a picture of him and his buddies... we tend to send boys into battle.....



My father is the skinny guy laying in the front... He carried an '03 Springfield with scope..... someone looked at his record at Paris Island and discovered he had shot a perfect score with an M1 Garand during qualification.....

 

[Johnny-Baseball]

My dad (USN) told me that while he was aboard his destroyer at Guadalcanal, he pulled "body bag" duty - unzipping body bags so the corpsmen could identify the dead Marines. Dad saw many Marines who had been wounded, then the Japanese castrated them and stuffed their junk down the Marines' throats - causing them to suffocate. In advance of his own graveside service, dad asked me to have Marines as his burial detail. He told me, "I want to be in the company of such honorable young men one more time." So I made sure that he was.

My dad's story is what I always remember on Memorial Day...Honorable young men.

 

[Watertender]

Contender, Thank You for posting my Memorial Day poem. I typed it out and put it in a couple of other threads on the forum. I do challenge coins for veterans and have given many out over the last 10 or so years. The genuine look of thank you from over 99% of veterans that I have given coins to is overwhelming. It's a small thing that I can do for the great men and women who have served our nation. I have even epoxied them to the gravestones of veterans with their families permission. Most people have lost the true meaning of Memorial Day and they will never understand the ultimate sacrifice of the ones who gave their lives for America.

 

[Johnny-Baseball]

Young men are faster, more agile, and believe themselves to be invincible and immortal.

"The military don't start wars. Politicians start wars." William C. Westmoreland
"Older men start wars, but younger men fight them. " Albert Einstein
"In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons." Herodotus
"War is when the younger and stupid are tricked by the old and bitter into killing each other." Niko Bellic
War is a dumb game thought out by men when they become too old to play cowboys and crooks. Irma Joubert
Men grow tired of sleep, love, singing and dancing, sooner than war. Homer

War is rich old men protecting their property by sending middle-class and lower-class young men off to die. It always has been. George Carlin

"Peace is an armistice in a war that is continuously going on." Thucydides

"When people are entering upon a war, they do things the wrong way round. They take action first, and it is only when they have already suffered that they begin to think." Thucydides

"You wrongfully assume that fair dealing is based on the principle that, if you do not injure others, you need not risk your own fortunes in preventing others from injuring you. And thus, you fail to see that peace stays longest with those who show their determination not to submit to injustice." Thucydides

"Only old men - politicians and diplomats - have the authority to declare war. And in their wisdom those same old men have declared that only young men shall fight it." The Lone Star Lizzard (aka Johnny Baseball)

 

[g5m]

My deceased father-in-law celebrated his 20th birthday on June 6, 1944, on Omaha Beach. Sixth wave. Also at the Bulge and three other major battles. He only spoke to me once about any battle and it was nasty (the battle). Then he was called back to Korea. Great guy and very much missed.

And in agreeement with Johnny-Baseball's post, I've said for over 60 years that wars would be a lot shorter if the politicians had to fight them.

 

[NC FNS]

Words can't express my appreciation for those who sacrificed so much so we could have our freedom.
I've been called on to perform Taps at several Memorial Day services over the years, and never get through it without shedding a few tears.

 

[jimbo1096]

God bless our troops and prayers for all in harms way. A great thanks for all who have served our country and a bowed head for those that gave their all.

 

[Hvymax]

I spent my weekend doing the Rolling Thunder/To Remember thing. It's pretty much a weekend honoring the sacrifices along with motorcycles and Great Americans. If you ride you should do it at least once. From the National Cathedral, Arlington Cemetery, all of the Memorials.

 

[Watertender]

Bringing this back for Memorial Day. If anyone wants to use it for Memorial Day Services please feel free

 

[dannyd]

I retired 29 years ago today, but My cousin only made it to Normandy.

The 29th Infantry 116 Regiment, Yankee's would have called them the "Stonewall Brigade"

 

[Watertender]

I retired 29 years ago today, but My cousin only made it to Normandy.

The 29th Infantry 116 Regiment, Yankee's would have called them the "Stonewall Brigade"


View attachment 46464

This is exactly why I wrote it. The Star of David has even more meaning because of who your cousin was fighting. He rests in hallowed ground honored our nation with the supreme sacrifice. I will have the Jewish veterans that I know honor him on Monday.

 

[Ray Newman]

Since Memorial Day -- Decoration Day as it was once known -- is about & for those who made the Supreme Sacrifice, lest I forget those I served with in Echo-2-12 July 1965-March 1967:

PFC David L Felt , USMC, DOB 04/05/46, Sacramento, CA KIA 08/17/65
Lt. Peter Paul Domiano, USMC, DOB 10/18/43, Industry, NY KIA 07/01/66
PFC Billy Dean Nelson, USMC, DOB 06/30/47, Lommis, NE KIA 07/20/66
PCF Bradley Alan Pearson, USMC, DOB 11/27/46,Clear Lake, WI KIA 07/20/66

And most of all:
PFC John Alton Girod JR, USMC, DOB 06/14/44, Denham Springs, LA KIA 02/21/66

The German song "Ich hatte einen Kameraden" --"I had a comrade" is played on German Remembrance Day . Part of it goes:

A bullet flew towards us
meant for me or meant for you?
It took him away,
he lies beneath my feet
like a piece of myself.

In the case of Johnny, if it wasn't for him, it would have hit me....

 

[Colonialgirl]

My dad (USN) told me that while he was aboard his destroyer at Guadalcanal, he pulled "body bag" duty - unzipping body bags so the corpsmen could identify the dead Marines. Dad saw many Marines who had been wounded, then the Japanese castrated them and stuffed their junk down the Marines' throats - causing them to suffocate. In advance of his own graveside service, dad asked me to have Marines as his burial detail. He told me, "I want to be in the company of such honorable young men one more time." So I made sure that he was.

My dad's story is what I always remember on Memorial Day...Honorable young men.

MY Dad spent 20 Years in the Navy starting before ww2; He served honorably and when he passed away late in life he was cremated and the Navy carried his ashes out to sea from San Diego, Ca and buried him at sea per his request.

 

[Mobuck]

In WW2, my Dad and 4 of my Uncles were in the service. After the loss of the Sullivan Brothers, one of my Uncles was kept in the US instead of sent to Europe.
For many years I accompanied Dad as we placed flags on Veteran's graves in the local cemeteries.

 

[davevabch]

I pretty much get choked up every time Memorial Day comes along. Our Military is the most honorable gift ever to the United States. May God Bless every single one of them and their families.

Let us also remember those lost in our most recent times and damn to Hell the POTUS that murdered them.
Never forget the Afghanistan Withdrawal Horror.

May God Bless them and their families.

 

[The Preacher]

 

[44Squatch]